Chapter 155: Disagreement
Chapter 155: Disagreement
Snape's expression and tone were off.
This was nothing like the Snape Sherlock remembered—the one who always had a gloomy face, as if someone owed him a fortune and he'd never find a wife!
His eyes no longer held the usual darkness and cruelty; instead, they were filled with hope.
Sherlock stared at him, feeling increasingly uneasy. He frowned and asked, "What's wrong with you?"
"What's wrong with me..." Snape actually laughed, "I'm fine! Forrest! Thank you! Really, thank you so much!"
It was getting stranger by the second.
Sherlock watched Snape's genuine, grateful smile, and his unease grew. "What are you planning? Shouldn't we be thinking about how to get back?"
"Back?" Snape said softly, meeting Sherlock's gaze. "Why go back?"
"You're planning to stay here?" Sherlock asked, emphasizing each word.
"Why not?" Snape relaxed, taking a deep breath. "This is the best world for me! A world where she's still alive, and I have a chance to save her!"
Sherlock quickly picked up on the key point in Snape's words. "She? Who is she? Are you talking about Harry's mother?"
"In 1977, she wasn't yet!" Snape said flatly.
In an instant, Sherlock understood what this greasy, pale man was up to!
He remembered what Lupin had told him before.
Snape's intense resentment toward the young James was partly due to the bullying, but mostly because Harry's mother had chosen Harry's father over him!
So now, he was planning to be the one to win her over!
To become Harry's father!
Sherlock stared at him in disbelief. "You want to go after Harry's mother!"
Snape, irritated, said, "I told you, she's not anyone's mother yet!"
"Shut up! Do you know the consequences of this?" Sherlock glared at him. "As a professor at Hogwarts, you should know that time can't be toyed with, and history can't be changed! We need to find a way back to our timeline, not stay here and steal someone else's wife!"
"She's not anyone's mother or wife!" Snape suddenly roared. "History, time, none of that matters! If I can come back here, it means fate has given me this chance! I will change everything! No one can stop me!"
Sherlock looked at Snape as if he were a madman beyond reason.
"And what about the Snape from the past? A second chance? You've read the records of time travelers, haven't you? You know what happened to those who tried to change history. None of them had a good ending! The past can't be changed; it's a law of the universe! People shouldn't live in the past. This time isn't ours; there are others living here. We can only make a better future, not get stuck in that damned past!"
Snape glared at him coldly.
"Of course, you'd say that. You can't change anything, because your mother has already died in this time! You can't change anything, so you say such things!"
Sherlock's face darkened.
Snape's words were harsh. Even though Sherlock didn't have much feeling for the original owner's mother, he was still enraged. He grabbed Snape by the collar.
"I'll say it again! We need to find a way back! If you came here alone, I wouldn't care how you risked your life. But we came together! If you do something you shouldn't, I'll suffer the consequences too!"
"Then why did you bring me to this time? It's not fun to give me hope and then not let me pursue it!"
"Do you think I wanted to? You have the nerve to say that! You're a professor at Hogwarts, a teacher to Harry and the others! But what did you do? You let Lupin turn into a werewolf in front of them instead of giving him the Wolfsbane Potion, all because of your personal grudge against Lupin and Sirius Black! If you had any sense of responsibility as a teacher, you wouldn't have done that!"
"You don't understand! Do you know what they did to me at school!" Snape roared. "I not only have to win Lily back here, but I also have to get revenge on them! I'll make them regret it!"
Sherlock couldn't take it anymore. He punched Snape hard in the face, knocking him to the ground!
Snape, dazed by the sudden blow, bled from his nose.
Sherlock pinned him to the ground, and Snape struggled, but he was no match for the young, fit Sherlock who exercised daily.
"Do you really think there's a pill for regret!"
"This is my chance to regret!"
"It will only get worse!" Sherlock gritted his teeth and punched Snape again. "If you really want to make amends, you should be kinder to her son! Not this cowardly regret!"
"You don't understand anything!"
"Right, I don't! But I know I need to get back to my original time!"
In no time, Snape was a mess, his face covered in a mix of blood, snot, and tears.
Seeing Snape clutching his head, no longer struggling, Sherlock lost the urge to beat sense into him.
He panted heavily as he got off Snape, having cast continuous spells during the time travel, and his recent actions had drained his stamina, leaving him extremely exhausted.
Sherlock sat down next to Snape, who was covering his face with his hands, as if he had been beaten to death, not moving or speaking a word.
Both of them were breathing heavily, and after a moment of silence,
"Alright, let's both calm down", Sherlock said, trying to regulate his breathing.
Snape turned his head away, as if he didn't want to hear him speak.
"I know you have your reasons", Sherlock said, gazing at the clouds drifting in the sky. "While I may not understand, I can support some of your ideas. For example, letting you meet this world's Harry Potter."
"Her name is Lily Evans", Snape, who had been silent like a corpse, suddenly interjected.
Sherlock chose to make a partial concession.
"Fine, Lily Evans. Since you miss her so much, you can meet her first. After that, we can discuss what happens next."
Snape used the sleeve of his robe to wipe away the snot, tears, and blood from his face, then extended a hand to Sherlock, saying coldly,
"Give me my wand back."
"Fat chance", Sherlock stood up from the ground. "I won't return it until we've reached an agreement and come to a mutual understanding."
"How am I supposed to see Lily then?" Snape also got up from the ground, looking utterly disheveled, with no trace of his former demeanor as the Head of Slytherin.
Upon hearing Sherlock's willingness to help him meet Lily, Snape's extreme and violent mood began to subside, and he started to be more willing to communicate.
Sherlock, of course, knew that this was a sign of Snape's compromise, given that he didn't have his wand.
If he hadn't taken Snape's wand at the beginning, Snape would have already run to Lily's doorstep by now.
"I agree to let you see her, but you have to follow my arrangements", Sherlock said, staring at him. "Let's put our differences aside for now. Given the current situation, we're in this together, so we need to figure out what we've brought with us."
Since Sherlock had proposed this, he began by laying out everything he had.
He pulled out a magic bag that had been extended with an Extension Charm and, in front of Snape, poured its contents onto the ground.
In addition to the two hundred wands, there was a bottle of luck potion Slughorn had given him, a fragment of the Philosopher's Stone from Nicolas Flamel, several bottles of pre-prepared Sadness Potion, other potions with various effects, a bag of Galleons, and a few magic books.
Seeing Sherlock display everything he had, Snape silently took out a bag that was also clearly enchanted with an Extension Charm.
Unlike Sherlock, he didn't pour everything out at once but carefully took out each item one by one.
Soon, numerous potion bottles were spread out in front of Snape.
His face was expressionless, but the bruises from Sherlock's beating made it impossible for him to maintain his usual cold demeanor.
"Do you need me to introduce each one to you?"
Sherlock looked at the colorful potions and waved his hand.
"No need to introduce them. Just tell me if you have any pre-prepared Polyjuice Potion."
Snape glanced at him, then reached into the pile of potions and pulled out a flask.
"These are it. Just add a hair to use them."
"Do you remember where you are now?" Sherlock asked.
Snape narrowed his eyes, not in reminiscence but in reluctance as he spoke the location.
"A street in Cokeworth called Spider's Tail Alley. I didn't leave there all summer during my sixth year. Lily should be there now."
"Alright", Sherlock extended a hand to Snape. "Let's go. Our first stop will be Cokeworth."
Snape didn't accept Sherlock's gesture of goodwill and coldly got up from the ground.
"Scouring Charm."
Sherlock didn't mind, shrugging his shoulders and pointing his wand at Snape. The dirt and grime on Snape's body vanished instantly, leaving him looking refreshed.
Since this time was not part of Sherlock's memories, they couldn't use Apparition to reach their destination directly.
Snape might have been able to, but Sherlock wouldn't let him touch the wand.
However, in the British magical community, besides Floo Powder, Apparition, and Portkeys, there was a fourth means of transportation.
Sherlock extended his wand, holding it out straight to one side, as if hailing a taxi.
Before long, a purple triple-decker bus suddenly appeared on the endless dirt road, speeding towards Sherlock and Snape.
(End of Chapter)
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